Tennessee National Guard, emergency responders plan drill

June 18, 2016

The Tennessee Military Department says it plans to conduct one of the largest statewide disaster preparedness exercises in its history.

The department says the exercise planned for this upcoming week will involve more than 50 Army and Air National Guard units training alongside fire departments, law enforcement agencies, paramedics, and other emergency organizations. Participants will practice responding to disaster scenarios.

Exercise activities in Memphis will occur Monday through Thursday. They are based on the catastrophic New Madrid Fault line earthquake scenario. Officials will establish command at Memphis International Airport and coordinate aftermath events of a disastrous earthquake.

The public can observe one of the disaster drill events outside the Shelby County Office of Preparedness’ emergency operations center on Wednesday.